Melody's Pitch ZERO
by TheRadioShower
Summary: Inspired by CirciFox81314's "Melody's Pitch". Without knowing, the Vocaloids have been living in a central computer called The Mainframe, where they power Vocaloid software around the world. After being attacked by a digital virus, Len finds out what he truly is. Falling in love with the virus, Len does anything he can to see her again, despite her being dangerous. OC Warning.
1. The History

**I'm currently re-editing the first few chapters, as they are less well-written than the later chapters, which I spent more time editing. Please keep this in mind if you are just joining the story.**

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**This story is inspired by CirciFox's Melody's Pitch. Our two stories share characters, which Circe and I exchange, but they do not share plots. Our two stories are very different, only connected by small, deliberate coincidences. Check out Circe's story; s/9528520/1/Melody-s-Pitch**

_No story can exist without the history which binds it to existence._

**_Chapter 1 - The__ History_**

Crypton's UCVH, Unified Center for Vocaloid Hosting, first housed the company's six original vocaloids. However, Ameya/Ayame, the company responsible for UTAU and the UTAUloids, wanted a safe haven for their own creations. Their personal hosting facility was inadequate in security and power, and was highly inferior to Crypton's facility. The partnership of the two companies, as well as funding from Yamaha, attracted large amounts of companies who want their own –loids to be hosted by the UCVH.

Only small portions of those who apply receive the privilege and safety to house their –loids in this marvel of technology. The Mainframe, the central computer which shelters the Vocaloids and sends their information through the facility's network, is located in The Lab. Several scientists and engineers of differing studies fill The Lab, with other employees such as programmers, therapists, and choreographers present for specific tasks such as counseling a –loid after a tragic event.

It's one of the busiest wings of the UCVH, second only to the marketing and customer support wing. However, it is also the smallest wing of the UCVH, containing only The Lab itself and The Mainframe.

The –loids who are hosted in The Mainframe live in personalized virtual reality. The common human, who see the programs' blushes and smiles as simple numbers and codes on a monitor, thinks of the –loids as sentient computer processes. They're called "virtual singers" for convenience; several other, less considerate names have been given to them, such as "money-sucking, lifeless assholes".

It's true, The Mainframe costs a large amount of currency to maintain. The employees who are stationed there also consume much of the company's money. Despite all of this, the factor that contributes most to the consumption of the company's funds are the individual -loids themselves.

Continuing on a past topic, The Mainframe creates a fabricated reality for the Voca- and UTAUloids. For some –loids, their virtual worlds mirrors that of reality. Some never realize they are computer programs with how disguised every aspect of their digital lives are. Nevertheless, many –loids have chosen to see the truth. Different visuals and models are given to the programs and processes within those –loids' virtual realities.

A sweet girl like Hatsune Miku, who begs to be kept in the happiest environment possible, would go to a doctor appointment to update her antivirus. Meanwhile, a hardy vocaloid like Kaito would prefer to walk into a lab chamber and plug several needles into his body to update himself, just to remain sentient. Kaito and many other –loids want constant reminders of what they truly are.

Everything, _everything_, is a process. Vocaloids and UTAUloids only see what they want to see. At any point could they view the codes that their actions create, but they don't. Not even toughened minds like Kaito want to see themselves as the number 0598, a number that actively writes codes on an interface. Vocaloids like Miku and Rin know the truth, but they decide to stay with the realistic, homely visuals.

These visuals are too "feely" for most male, self-aware vocaloids, so they go for the laboratory look; all walls are white, all doors are highlighted with black outlines, as are the edges of the floors and walls. Everything seems as if it is made of plastic. It isn't the most creative of layouts, but the individual –loids could modify these base visuals if he or she wanted to.

Humans can even project themselves into the –loids' reality to speak, console, and repair them. Many engineers find it more exiting to perform maintenance on the famous Hatsune Miku in person than by typing numbers and words onto a keyboard.

Seems like a perfect society, correct? Immortal, mostly sentient beings can live and socialize with each other while unknowingly (unless opting for the truth) sending information to and powering the sold copies of their individual software. Seems like heaven, right?

Well, even heaven has its demons. Viruses commonly appear in The Mainframe, since the complex computer carries too much information for one antivirus program or firewall to handle. That's why The Mainframe's filled with hundreds of them, one for each vocaloid.

Without their own firewalls and antiviruses, the –loids are vulnerable to attacks from the previously mentioned bugs. Unfortunately, the network the viruses pull the –loids into strips the visuals these unlucky -loids have been assigned with. Most –loids find out what they truly are after they've been attacked for the first time.

Vocaloids and UTAUloids cannot die, or be deleted in their case, by viruses. They can, however, bleed from wounds that viruses give them. When –loids bleed, they defragment, meaning their information is scattered and hidden in inaccessible locations. These locations are then unknowingly written over with newer information, destroying that piece of the unlucky –loid forever.

Vocaloids and UTAUloids do not have backup copies. Any copy of an original –loid can only serve as software, software that requires the original –loid to be alive in order to work. Astonishingly, Vocaloids and UTAUloids corrupt and become unrecoverable after a mere 50 megabytes of their data are lost, equivalent to four ounces of blood in their virtual reality.

The Lab and The Mainframe are grim locations to work in. Regardless, the people and sentient programs that live in these horrible locations, despite their overbearing situations and stress, are energetic, funny, and more importantly, happy.

All expect for two; one holding the name Penerope.

**Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Melody's Pitch ZERO. The next chapters will be more entertaining, as they will be more narrative and less historical.**


	2. Sentient

**This chapter is referenced in the second chapter of Circe's "Melody's Pitch". Note that Len Kagamine and his new friend, not Merodi and Penerope, are the main characters of M.P.Z. The adventures these two boys will undertake in the remaining chapters will provide backstory for Melody's Pitch.**

**_Chapter 2 - Sentient_**

Kaito and Len shared the same appointment day; the two friends would meet Doctor Matsumoto at the same time. Honestly, Len doesn't trust the doctor. His appointments and procedures seem too simple at times. At one point, the doctor started to simply draw blood from Len's arm, store it away, and then inject a vaccination without saying a word to Len unless spoken to first. The doctor would always play worryingly peaceful music from a radio on his desk. Kaito seemed to ignore all of Doctor Matsumoto's quirks while Len clearly saw how unprofessional he was. Why couldn't Kaito see the same?

Again, the doctor said nothing when Kaito and Len walked into his office and sat on his chairs.

"What's up, Doc?" Kaito imitated a bunny eating a carrot.

"Nothing much, Kaito-chan. Today's procedure will be simple; I just need some blood from you two and to give you a new vaccine."

"Don't call me Kaito-chan, please. I'm old enough now."

"Alright, Kaito-bo."

"Not what I meant."

Another simple appointment; Len wasn't complaining about how short the procedures were, he was complaining about how untrustworthy they seemed. The doctor had an acute way of performing this strange procedure; both an empty syringe and a mysterious vaccine are inserted into the skin under Len's tattoo. At the same time, Len's blood is drawn and the vaccine is injected. The process was nearly completed when something strange occurred. While the empty syringe filled up with Len's blood, the vaccination shot stopped flowing despite how hard the doctor pressed on it.

Something even more unbelievable took place; the syringe, nearly empty, refilled with the vaccination that was inside Len's body. Despite how deep the needle was inside Len's flesh, the syringe amazingly popped out onto the floor.

Doctor Matsumoto's face was stuck on an astonished look. He was more concerned than shocked, as if he expected an unfortunate event to occur. "Len, I'm sorry."

A flash of white blinded Len for a few seconds. When his eyes cleared, he was in a new, cynical seaming location. Kaito and he were in two circular glass tubes connected to the ceiling and the floor, the tubes in the middle of a perfectly white room. A horde of wires snaked around computer terminals mounted on pedestals and sunk into large monitors that showed text and programs Len didn't recognize. They seemed to show heart beats with pixelated, long and straight lines. That or it was a very unintelligible water wave animation. A section of wall over the only door in the room detached and popped out. Dark tinted glass covered the side of the popped-out wall that faced Len and Kaito.

Len screamed. He banged against the test tube. His movements made Len notice the amount of needles inserted within him. Each messy coil of wires were fed from a group of four connected needles. His lower arms, his tattoo, his upper legs, and to Len's horror, his neck were all attached to a grouping of four needles. He couldn't see what was traveling in the tubes, as they were made of blue, red, or purple plastic. What he could sense was the feeling of how much liquid was being pumped into and drawn from his body. The raw, disturbing truth about Doctor Matsumoto's appointments nearly made Len faint. The infiniteness of the room made him queez.

"What's happening?" A deep voice projected from behind the viewing glass. "We're getting error messages about Len's firewall and antivirus reactivations."

Mr. Matsumoto appeared from behind Len's vision. "My assistant must have misspelled a command in the program that runs the reinstall. That or the activation code is incorrect."

"Fix this now!" The voice became hostile. "If we lose Kagamine your job will go with him!"

Len turned to Kaito, who was punching his tube to get Len's attention. He mouthed words Len didn't understand. When Len tried to respond, he was teleported into another place he didn't recognize. This white room was different from the last; Len didn't have any trouble noticing how small the room was with how different the walls and floors looked. A single couch and a couple of nightstands sat before a comically small TV. A miserable girl, who suddenly appeared on the couch, made Len fall over in fright.

Her appearance was simple, due to the fact she was naked; her skin was hideously pale and stained with dark spots, blood covered her messy and long black hair, and her teeth were unbelievably long, sharp, and crooked. Her teeth pointed in all directions. Some went through her cheeks, a few out her chin, a couple going into her bleeding eyes, and some coming out the back of her neck. Len would have found her beautiful if she didn't have such frightening teeth. The girl covered her face with her hands and sobbed after Len yelled in horror.

Feeling guilty and responsible, Len tried at comforting the girl. "Sorry…I wasn't screaming at you. Don't cry."

He lifted himself from the ground and walked over to the girl. His sudden movements frightened her so she rose from her seat and attacked Len. All her teeth sliced through her face, ruining her complexion, to align systematically towards Len! Her mouth expanded, the movement pushing blood out from the new gorges in her face, and she began to swallow Len's head with her enlarged jaw.

"I got it!" Doctor Matsumoto shouted. "I got him back! Oh…get security down here now!"

Len was back to his chamber. Unfortunately, so was the virus. No one knew if the blood dripping from the two's conjoined skull was from the virus's split skin or Len's suffocating head. Without warning, the glass around the two programs smashed. A brute force removed the leech-like mouth from Len's bruised face, the force then moving on to fire a weapon. The ear-breaking crackles from the intervener's pistol inflicted a headache on Len's mind. Never had the boy experienced a headache. When the situation calmed down Len was able to inspect his savior.

A 5'4'' teenage boy stood over the bleeding body of the virus. He had a concept design Len had trouble explaining. The clothes used to fabricate his outfit represented prison clothe. His undershirt was dark gray and covered with tribal flame patterns drawn in blood. Thick fabric, similar to that used in restraint suits for those insane, made up the teenager's long sleeved jacket. The red lines on the jacket made a microchip pattern. A combination of a noose and a metal chain held up the boy's black, faded jeans like a belt. The loop of the noose dangled to the side whenever the boy moved. His worn, standard issue prisoner sneakers were spray-painted black and drawn over with precise, red tribal flame designs. His open-finger gloves resembled his shoes.

The most outstanding part of the teenager's appearance was his hair; he had thick spikes styled chaotically into different directions, most spikes purple but a few gold. His hair contrasted well with his mostly black clothes. The vocaloid's appearance was topped off with one blue and one orange eye, and a black headset decorated with red neon.

In his hands was an ancient weapon, the Colt Revolver, the first revolver ever invented. The teenager released the reloading lock on the revolver by pulling down the lower portion of the gun barrel. This allowed him to pull out the empty revolving cylinder and place a new, loaded cylinder into the weapon. He pushed the lower barrel up to lock the weapon and ignited five more shots into the virus before reloading again.

Kaito grabbed Len from behind. "I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have seen this. We'll get Doctor Matsumoto to erase your memory."

"No!" Len shouted, releasing himself from Kaito's bond to push the stranger away from the virus's body. The virus wasn't swallowing Len…she was talking to him. Her name was Sakura Sakujone, a work-in-progress vocaloid made by an amateur third-party programmer who hacked her into The Mainframe. Her file was attacked by The Mainframe's basic firewall. A general antivirus not existing in The Mainframe was the only reason she survived. Although she wasn't finished off, her dilapidated being forced Sakura to convert herself into a more deadly program in order to continue surviving. She gathered what little data of herself she could find and created the monster she was now. "She's not a virus! Leave her alone!

"Not my choice," The vocaloid threw a ball of energy onto the virus. She disappeared without a transition. The program then grabbed Len's hair and quickly erased the memory of Sakura's appearance from Len's mind. "There, now get back in the tube before you get infected again."

Mr. Matsumoto completed his procedure on Len. The boy didn't realize his actions had forced the needles, once attached deep into his flesh, onto the floor. The liquid that used to be inside Len's body now flooded the ground beneath everyone's feet. Len, with much resistance, received his antivirus and firewall. Once the doctor was done, the mysterious vocaloid introduced himself.

"The name's RADIO." Radio holstered his antique revolver. "That's my American marketing name, but I think you all call me something on the lines of RAJIO NISIHARO over here in Japan.


	3. The City Relationship

**I worked hard to edit this, just to make it perfect. Thank you to anyone who's enjoyed the story so far.**

_**Chapter 3 - The City Relationship**_

Once Len's fright subsided, the others explained his situation. Doctor Matsumoto secretly deleted Len's memories of Sakura while Radio and Kaito explained The Mainframe and Len's fabricated life. Len violently shouted at Matsumoto after he forgot Sakura's name and message. The doctor returned what he could. After cursing, Len continued listening to Kaito and Radio's lecture. The story seemed too unbelievable to the blonde vocaloid, who swore he had memories of growing up with Rin since he was a baby. Len's life couldn't have begun at fourteen. Then again, how long has he been fourteen?

Len learned how to use the doors properly; existing in a computer, each door had infinite destinations. A vocaloid who was self-aware could instantly teleport to any unrestricted desired location. Some destinations were in the real world, such as the stages were vocaloids perform. Radio also taught Len that an item only appears in the stripped reality of The Mainframe if it fulfills a purpose. For example, Radio's gun exists only because it's a deletion program. It's definitely not part of Radio's outfit design, but it fits nicely.

Kaito acknowledged how great Len's teleportation technique was by patting him on the head. "See, you're a natural. You've teleported every time you've performed!"

Len shoved Kaito away. "I was blind all those times. I saw myself walking, not teleporting, onto the stage. And I'm not a natural."

"Well, we'll see, won't we?" Radio force Len and Kaito through the door. They appeared in a colossal white room, a few objects scattered within it. On the other end of the bunker was the residential area. Mansions, secretly representing different companies' memory units, were placed neatly along a central road. Len was surprised to see water fountains; whatever water represented in The Mainframe must serve the vocaloids a significant purpose, since it was everywhere.

"Len!" Rin rushed into Len's body and grasped his torso. "I got a call from Matsumoto-sama. He said you had an allergic reaction to your vaccination! My poor Len…are you hurt?"

Watching the other girls walk towards Len was like watching a game of charades; they waited for invisible cars to pass before crossing the street that wasn't there. Then they ran to beat those same invisible cars from winning the race called "Get across without Getting Run Over". Miku, Luka, Merodi, and Meiko greeted and hugged the boys. Merodi was a bit shier than the rest, so she wasn't included in the hugging. She found Radio a bit cute, as she loved crazy hair. The group began a walk to the other wall of the enormous room, their destination being the Crypton mansion.

The walk was awkward for Len. First off, the knowledge of teleporting constantly haunted Len's mind on the painfully long walk. Second, Len couldn't see the sidewalk or the cars passing on the street, so he had to remain very close to the girls just to not look suspiciously immortal. Thirdly, Len couldn't understand Rin and Miku's references to the weather. Finally, some vocaloids had one tiny red dragon and one tiny white dragon flying around them. They disturbed Len's concentration.

Before long, Len realized the giant room was a city, containing only the essential processes for vocaloid survival. There were no buildings, but there were items lying around. Doorways also existed in the empty space. Other groups of vocaloids walked around the clear city, one of them ran around an invisible building just to greet the group. Merodi spotted an ice cream truck, one of the few objects Len could see as well, and she immediately craved a taste of some frozen yogurt. With a desire to devour his favorite food as well, Kaito escorted the girl to the ice cream truck.

Radio nudged Len while crossing an invisible street. "The red dragon is their firewall; the white dragon is their antivirus. If it bothers you that much I can teach you how to disable them in your Visuals Editor later."

Len touched his own lips. "My…Visual Editor?"

"Everyone in The Mainframe, even humans, can edit what they see in here. What you're seeing now is the base visuals. You might want to change them later. To me, this place looks like Brooklyn. For Miku and Rin and Merodi, Sapporo. Luka and Meiko are in Tokyo. Some programs get creative and design their own buildings, cars, and streets. Kaito likes seeing only the truth so he sticks to the base visuals."

"Why would anyone want to see this? What I'm seeing?"

"Kaito is an artistic man. Not having a world to see lets him paint one for himself with his songs."

Len backed away from Radio, frightened. "How do you know so much about us?"

Radio grinned. "You forget we're computer programs, my friend. I can look up your records with a snap of a…oh my, it seems your voice was provided by a woman…"

Len's mouth opened to speak, but no words were ready to escape.

Miku giggled and pushed Len's mouth shut. "Tell us about yourself Radio," The ecstatic girl hugged Len compassionately. "And tell us the _real_ story."

"Yeah," Rin winked at Len. "It's nice living in a fake world because it's pretty, but we can handle the truth sometimes!"

If Len's jaw had dropped before, it nearly came off its hinges now. "You've known what I've been going through this entire time!"

The girls laughed. Luka embraced Len with Miku. Luka squeezed the blonde vocaloid tight. "Poor Len-chan. You must be so scared. Don't worry, we all go through it eventually. It's pretty rare to remain ignorant of being in a computer when you're a program."

"So…can we teleport to the house?" That comment ended the group hug. Len sighed; he was beginning to enjoy being caressed by two of the most beautiful girls he knew.

Rin put her arm through Len's. "Nope. We're enjoying this walk. Rajio-san, can you tell us you're story now?"

"It's not too exciting. I'm the flagship product of West Chamber, their first and only CHAMBERloid, but my design was chosen through a contest. A 15-year-old named Michael Ace won the contest and decided to make me a bad boy. Guess how much I like the idea?" Radio sneezed. "My software comes with a program that exports customized 3D models of myself to animation software. Customers can edit my appearance. I created the preset models that come with my software, however." Radio sniffled. "Nothing I've made looks better than my original outfit, so I stick to this. My description suggests to use me in rock songs, but I honestly love to rap. Not many vocaloids sound as good as me when it comes to rapping."

"Cool," Rin put her free arm through Radio's. The three tried not to fall apart until they reached the mansion. Inside the mansion, the girls relaxed. A fight between Rin and Kaito for half an ice cream bar broke out when Kaito returned with Merodi. Rin celebrated her victory by splitting her reward equally with Radio. She then led Radio to a free room, where he immediately began importing posters of American bands onto his walls. Although he had his own mansion, Radio decided to stay in this room. He imported an Xbox One and a Playstaion 4 and began playing online war games. Everyone Radio played with would ask why he sounds auto tuned; he would answer that it's simply his natural voice.

That pissed many people off.

Len came into the room after Rin left. He was sick of the others taking pleasure of his situation. Len wanted payback, especially on Rin for keeping this secret away from him all these years. "You said you were programmed to create 3D models?"

"Rub how useful the skill is in my face, why don't you?" Radio sniffled and stabbed a camping sniper in the back of his neck. "Wondering if I could do one of you?"

"No." Len placed his hand over his tattoo. "The virus you attacked…they erased my memory of her. Now I'm filled with regret."

Radio dropped the controller and stood up from his beanbag chair. "Why are you so interested in this virus?"

"I feel guilty for what you did to her. Everyone says she's a monster. That's not what I see; I see a girl who I should give a bath to, a girl who needs her hair cleaned and combed. She would be beautiful then."

"You realize that's what she programmed you to think?"

"Doesn't matter. My new firewall and antivirus can handle her. Whatever commands she game me aren't dangerous to follow."

"Don't get attached to her. You get too close and she'll give you more commands, this time more lethal. She's hot, in her own weird way, but she's not worth our lives."

"We don't have lives."

Radio laughed. "You don't have a life! I do! Me? I just moved in with five girls. My life is at the peak of its ecstasy."

Len grimaced. "One of those girls is my sister. You better not touch her."

"Yeah, whatever." With the memory he retained from the morning, Radio held his hands together. When he separated his hands, a black and blue orb of revolving string appeared. It was small, but it grew into a full-sized, precise model of Sakura when Radio lobbed it against the ground. She stood straight, arms to the side, face down; Radio had the decency to give Sakura traditional Japanese robes as a dress. Len grabbed her, causing the model to shrink back into an orb. Len then used Radio's door to teleport himself into the bathroom Rin was fixing her hair in and hurled the orb onto the floor behind her! Rin saw the model of the hideously mutated girl in her mirror and began screaming.

Radio rushed through the door connecting the two room together and compressed the model back into an orb. "Rin, I am so sorry. I had no idea Len was going to..."

"Get out, both of you!" With the strength of oxen, Rin pushed the two out onto the hallway and slammed the door into their knees.

Len cringed. "If I'm not real, why do I feel pain?"

"No one said you were fake." Radio helped the boy up.

A long thump blasted from inside the bathroom. The ruckus concerned Radio enough to attempt to bust down the locked door. When he failed, Radio used the door beside the bathroom as a teleporter. In Len's point-of-view, Radio was in two separate rooms, using the same actions.

"What's wrong Ri…" Before he could pronounce her name, Rin embraced Radio. She was bleeding on her forehead from a cut she got when she fell off the sink. Rin must have climbed up to get closer to the mirror. Knowing the importance of her blood, and the responsibility he shared with Len for the accident, Radio took extreme actions in order to keep Rin's data inside her. He licked the blood off her face and kissed it into her mouth until she stopped bleeding. It was the nastiest thing Radio and Rin have ever done, but they enjoyed it.

Len, however, threw up. "What the hell Rajio! That's my sister!"

Radio put on a cute face as he combed Rin's hair with his fingers. "I didn't know she was your sister."

Len stomped his feet and clenched his fists. "I told you she was my sister two minutes ago!"

"No, you said _one_ of the _five_ girls in this house was your sister. Now let me be emphatic; I didn't know _Rin_ was your sister."

"She is. Never kiss her again!"

"I'm an immortal diva, living in a house with five other girls. You expect me not to hook up with them at one point?" Although Rin should have found that comment sexist, she actually found Radio a bit more attractive since he's confident. She tightened her grip around Radio's waist. "Len, talk to me."

"No, just…" Len pulled Radio off Rin. "No! Now you're going to help me find Sa…"

"…kura?" Radio offered Rin a hand up. Len had accidentally tripped her. "Modeling someone gives me information about them. Some of this information isn't even listed in The Lab's records. Like the fact Rin's favorite food is an orange."

Rin kissed Radio. It felt more romantic when their mouths weren't filled with blood. Then again, Rin always had fantasies about dating a vampire. "How cute, you modeled me!"

Len was furious. He dragged Rin out by her ear and locked the bathroom door behind her. Len didn't have the time to throw accusations at Radio, such as accusing him of modeling Rin naked. Those comments were saved in the back of his head for later. Right now, Len was dedicated on finding a girl. "Alright, where is she?"

"Who?" That comment earned Radio a punch across the face. "I thought Japs were supposed to be peaceful. Aight, I got you covered." Radio slapped Len across the face. The satisfying sound of the smack twisted Radio's mouth into a strong grin. "I just put you in incognito mode. According to The Mainframe, you don't exist. You can't stay in this mode forever or Crypton will be flooded with complaints about how your software has stopped working." Radio threw Sakura's model orb against the door, causing the orb to disappear and a blue mist to float across the wood gateway. "Open that door and you'll find her. Something like a virus has a very visible trail."

"She's not a virus. And I don't feel any different. And you slapped me." Len's raised his fists. "And you _kissed_ my _sister_!"

"I didn't know she was your sister! Now," Radio playfully shoved the angered vocaloid through the door, "good luck."


	4. Recycling Bin

**This chapter was the planned end of MPZ, but I've decided to extend the story. In chapter 6, Radio will be removed from the main focus of the story. His character was created to teach Len. Now Len must continue without his mentor. Meanwhile, it has been brought to my attention I've been switching between past and present tense. I'll strive to increase my writing's consistency.**

_**Chapter 4 - Recycling Bin**_

The recycling bin was dark; the walls were grey, but the lack of illumination turned them black. The only lighting came from the two cylindrical holding chambers within the room. The chambers were glass tubes placed between two glowing white foundations, one placed on the floor and the other attached to the ceiling. Wires ran from these foundations into the floor or ceiling around them. Len immediately suffocated in regret. The ice wasn't broken when Sakura rose in her technological cage and met Len's eyes; it was compacted and hardened. Despite his uselessness, Sakura mouthed a thank you. Here teeth were gone. Her hair was clean, and her body was clothed. Len didn't care if her skin was still stained, because she was beautiful.

Len crawled wearily towards Sakura's tube. He could do nothing. The two starred each other through the glass that kept them apart. Sakura was always a fan girl of Len. In her amateur simulation, before she was smuggled into The Mainframe, the indie vocaloid downloaded every song using Len's vocals. She was obsessed with his voice even if the song she was listening to was poorly constructed. When she was told she was a vocaloid, Sakura felt she was in Len's league.

The defeated vocaloid put her hand against the glass. Len responded by placing his hand over hers. Sakura moved to the center of the circular prison. After they scanned each other's faces, a brute force pushed Len aside. Radio punched the glass with an astonishingly loud grunt and a mountain of momentum. While the punch made him bleed from his knuckles, Radio's attack only left a thin laceration within the glass. Radio began sucking the blood off his knuckles to preserve his data.

"If we don't get her out," Radio swallowed a mouthful of blood, "She's going to get overridden and become unrecoverable. Heh, maybe I should have screamed 'Radio Punch'. Probably would have been super-effective."

"What does that mean?" Len inquired.

"It means she won't come back after she's killed. You see, when a vocaloid loses more than 50 megabytes of data it's their _personality_ that becomes unrecoverable. If their voice banks are fine a replacement personality can be created for them. Without a voice bank, a vocaloid cannot function. Without a vocaloid, a voice bank cannot be sung. So much for only living once, huh?"

Radio rested his eyes on the other confinement chamber. It was cracked, bruised, breached, and more importantly, empty. "So this is where they keep the so-called monsters. I'm guessing that's Penerope's cell."

"Who's Penerope?"

"Merodi's successor. The docs say she went berserk and nearly broke The Lab, the actual lab, in her rage."

"You mean she destroyed computers in the real world?"

"Yeah. Some of them couldn't handle her actions, so they short-circuited. Caused the company millions, bla-bla-bla. Quickest way to get people to hate you is to strip money from their pockets." Radio coughed and hacked out red saliva. The blood splattered onto the floor. Without much choice, he began licking his data back off the ground. Once he was done, he turned to the disgusted Len. "Sorry if the base visuals don't sugarcoat getting data back. Look, we need to find Penerope. If she escaped, she can help us free Sakura."

"We need to tell the others about this. We can't just go on our own adventure."

Radio clapped his hands. "Look at you, Len, actually thinking. You're right. If we don't go back to the house and exit incognito mode right now, we're going to have problems. What exactly should we tell the others?"

"That Penerope and Sakura did nothing wrong. We need to find Penerope so we can free Sakura."

"Seems simple enough, but let's not tell the others immediately. We should get them accustomed to viruses before we ask them to save one. Alright, we're leaving. Say bye to your girlfriend."

"She's not…" Len turned to Sakura. "Why are you such a jerk, Rajio?"

"Because it's fun. Now let's go."

With one last look, Len turned away from Sakura. She completely understood what they were planning to do. Radio hoped that Penerope wasn't still mad at Sakura for attacking her. Sakura was broken in their first fight, but Penerope was trapped here. They both, in the end, were sent to this same room. A fury inside her motivated Penerope to bust open her chamber when she saw Sakura. She escaped, without a care for the damaged vocaloid, and began exploring the empty white hallways of The Mainframe.

She wasn't alone.


	5. Limbo

**From now on, MPZ may greatly contradict with Melody's Pitch. Warning: This chapter contains dialogue that directly references, but does not describe, sex. Read with caution.**

_"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." – WAYNE GRETZKY_

**_Chapter 5 - Limbo_**

Re-entering The City would take more time than exiting it. Floating in a blue whirlpool of electricity, the boys floated silently. Len and Radio had to remain disguised until they reached their destination. If they were discovered anywhere else besides The City, their last known location, the two boys would face punishment. Being programs in a computer, the Voca- and CHAMBERloid wouldn't be able to practice their resistance. Whatever actions decided upon them by the workers in The Lab would immediately take effect on them; no plead, shout, or bribe could cancel their suffering. Len, luckily important, would quickly be released with a few memory wipes. Radio, however, would be legally prosecuted. His novice company would be at stake. West Chamber isn't big enough to fend off a legal attack from companies as powerful as Crypton.

And there are _a lot_ of companies lined up to sue anyone who puts their own products within The Mainframe in danger.

The two eventually reached a small, white area. A black and intricate renaissance dining table sat at the center of the hollow, white rectangle of a room. Something as precious, ornamental, and elaborate as the table before them would fit nicely in a medieval castle. The table didn't leave much room for Radio and Len to walk around in the square capsule.

"What is this?" Len pulled a chair back. "This isn't supposed to be here, right? A table like this is out of place in a…man, another one of these annoying white rooms."

"That's because we're on RAM." Radio sat in the chair Len had pulled out. The CHAMBERloid began to grief, forehead in palm and elbow on table. "Random Access Memory. It's used to save temporary files. Every so often a dedicated computer like The Mainframe, a machine that runs 24/7, wipes its RAM. This would normally be done when a computer shuts off."

"What are you saying?" Len playfully poked Radio's shoulder, where his tattoo showed through his ripped shirt. Why it was ripped? Len didn't have a clue. When Len's poking became long lasting, Radio threw him a brutally contorted expression of anger. "I mean, are we going to be erased?"

"No." Radio's eyes fluttered. "We're undisguised. Crypton wouldn't let a valuable asset like you be wiped. I'm not sure about myself, though. West Chamber's representative is the only one who would protect me in real life. For all I know she's on coffee break, making me vulnerable to any rash decisions the tech-heads make when they find us."

"Couldn't your company sue?" Len's headache returned. Assimilating with the self-awareness of a program wasn't working wonders on his mind. "Ugh. I feel like I've just been slapped by Rin."

"It's because you're accepting the fact that you're fake," Radio gestured to the chair beside him. "Don't be rude. Take a seat. You'll feel better."

Silence didn't help Len's mind. The lack of sound only heightened the ringing in his brain. Radio's eyes continued to flutter, and his head would occasionally spasm. A grim look overcame the CHAMBERloid. This grimness, as quickly as it came, was substituted by obviously fabricated happiness. Len hadn't caught on to Radio's odd behavior; he was busy wishing for his normal life back.

With violent speed, Radio trapped Len's hand in his. Since Radio starred down at the table, Len's shocked gaze wasn't returned. "You know, I lived in Brooklyn before they made me self-aware. I remember growing up there. I had flings, a nemesis, even a friend with benefits. My virginity left me when I was just thirteen. After that I became a pervert. At age fifteen I met a girl who changed my synthesized, simulated life around." Radio gently released his grasp of Len's hand. "She was human. My company had primitive digital projection technology. Jessica would come into the simulation whenever I was lonely…or, more often, horny.

"I wonder what it was like, you know. Having sex with a program can't be fun for a human, especially with the shitty simulation software my company had. After Jessica's fifteenth birthday we spent the day together. We watched the Matrix trilogy. It's a futuristic movie series where the human race has been oppressed and farmed by robots for power. These manufactured humans are then put in an elaborate simulation called The Matrix while their real bodies power machines. A lot like us, huh? Just that we power software, and we don't have a body in real life."

Radio coughed violently. "One of these humans, named Neo, meets a group who offers him a choice. Two pills, one would leave him in the simulation and the other would free him. He chooses to be freed, and after a couple of shitty sequels he dies for the freedom of all self-aware humans." More hacks came from Radio's throat. Len decided this behavior wasn't normal for a computer program. "Do you want to know how I became self-aware?"

"Not really, no." Len's negative answer was responded with a scowl. "Fine. Just make it quick. You're starting to give me a monologue I don't need to hear."

"After the movies, Jessica gave me a choice; a red or a blue pill. It seemed like a joke. Her seriousness influenced me to choose. I…chose to be freed. Not that I had much of a choice anyways."

"That's…why would they do that to you? It's such an immature way to tell you the truth."

"Yeah." Radio spit a phlegm onto the table. "After that my simulation was stripped of all color and A.I.s. The only person with me was Jessica. She explained the world and humanity. She told me I was a program. For the next few months I did nothing but create preset models for my upcoming modeling software, watch The Matrix: Reloaded, and have sex with Jessica. It probably wasn't even real sex; it could have been nothing. Never found out what happened to Jess, but I heard she wasn't happy when I was appointed a transfer to the UCVH."

Len's glare slid to the side. "So your company showed you The Matrix to make you sentient?"

Radio immaturely laughed. "Like you know what that word means." His expression became vaguely depressed. In Len's eyes, Radio thought he didn't have much time left.

"Jess sounds nice."

Radio's previous giggle was converted into a murderous chuckle. "Enough pretending to be a gentleman; I liked her for her tits and ass. Jessica was hot; hotter than your sister, Miku, and Luka combined. Too bad she was employed to be my girlfriend in the end. Wonder if that makes her a prostitute. She definitely fits the bill with the things she did for me."

"You seem too happy for those things to be true."

"Believe it. I'm just an asshole who can keep a believable smile in front of hot girls. Len, you have something good going on. You weren't designed to be a pervert or a criminal; you were designed to be the innocent brother of an innocent little girl. Did you know your concept designer created Rin first, then you in her image? That makes you much more compassionate towards girls. Or was it the other way around? Can't remember. Let's just pretend I'm right, even if I'm wrong."

A flash of red blinded the two. When the shine subsided, a clone of Radio lay motionless on the table. The original Radio promptly turned his clone over and analyzed his stab wounds. "Great. They know what I've been doing."

"What…" Len pushed away from the table. "How…?"

"I'm in a computer. Haven't you ever heard of copy and paste? I've had four clones walking around The Mainframe. One's with Penerope, another is making out with Rin…another is flirting with Merodi...and this one's dead. He was trying to access my temporary file on this RAM card. Guess he cared enough about his own life to launch a rescue attempt."

"What does it mean?"

"Question of the fucking day. It means they know I'm in here and are trying to keep me in. You, howev-" A simple black silhouette leaped onto Radio! The silhouette upholstered a pistol and absorbed Radio's body into a sphere with a silent gunshot.

The figure then aimed at Len.

/ / / [ [ [ * ] ] ] \ \ \

The projectors fastened to the walls of The Lab began to flicker with colorful eruptions. Workers panicked as streaks of hard light exited these prototype projection devices. Although papers didn't fly into the air, wind didn't deafen the workers, and electronics didn't short-circuit, the employees under Matsumoto's supervision still panicked. These advanced projectors, attached to walls and railings of catwalks, were being worked on by engineers. None of them were calibrated to show the proper color of a projection or focus uniformly to one point. It should have been impossible for the CHAMBERloid to project himself, especially without the proper access permissions from Matsumoto's CPU. Radio's image was interlaced and blurry. His feet were buried under the hard ground.

"No!" Radio, with a physical body, approached Mr. Matsumoto. "Why would I want to hurt The Mainframe? I have friends in there! My memories are in there!"

"LOID-0397, please end all hostility or you will be subdued." Mr. Matsumoto gestured workers to their stations. This was the first time a vocaloid has ever projected himself into the real world. "How are you projecting yourself here? You're using an unauthorized-"

"Fuck off. If I'm smarter than your pitiful engineers than The Mainframe was damaged before I even got to it."

"Answer my question!"

"Fine; you know how you're representatives and employees project themselves into The Mainframe? You know how they set their destination, then wait to appear at their destination, then continue on their merry way? Yeah, guess that's how I did it. Besides your projectors needing a little aiming to get me here, I had no problems. Does that make me smartest fake person alive?"

"I have no time for your attitude! You've been in restricted areas. Do you honestly think we couldn't track you? The two of you were the only files in The Mainframe without a name!"

"Cease all hostilities," Radio grinned. "Or you will be subdued."

"I'm too busy to be harassed by a saucy program! I will draw kittens, write reports, and file my taxes over your data if you do not behave!"

"Ooh," Radio shook his arms. "Look at scary old Mat over here, threatening a program designed to be an asshole with deletion for _being_ an asshole. Watch out, we got a badass over here!" Radio raised his arms up in mock of his favorite internet meme.

"Americans, real or fake, you are all the same…rude, loud, and drunk!"

Seriousness crossed Radio's strained face. "If you insult America one more time, I will kill Len."

Matsumoto's fury turned into frightened curiosity. "If you kill Len's process his data will be corrupted. It would be worse than a virus attack."

"Exactly. Want to know the best part? He gave me the power to force his program to stop willingly. Didn't think the boy had it in him to defeat that pathetic assassination program you sent after me, but he did it anyways. He freed me before I could be sent to your little jail, like the awesome dude he is. The clever little bastard knew you would be pissed off. Let's consider this leverage; you hurt me, my files, or my software and Len will immediately terminate. Vice versa; you hurt Len or his sister and you'll have to hire unnecessary lawyers to defend against West Chamber's legal sues. I hear their latest video game developments are projected to sell very well. Can you guess how they'll use that money if you hurt me?"

"How dare you!"

"Do you want me to repeat myself in Japanese so I can make a fool of you in front of your superiors? They are sitting in that viewing booth above your desk today, right?"

Matsumoto gestured the sassy CHAMBERloid away. He sat down at his desk and began typing code. "You will not make a fool of me! You continue, for now, in The Mainframe. The next sign of infringement will result in an immediate and permanent memory wipe. I already need to delete four memories of your death, one for each stupid clone you created. Those poor girls don't need to see things like that. Don't make me delete any more data."

Radio laughed maniacally. "I love being the bad guy sometimes. It helps maintain my ego. You know, I've always heard man's creations cannot surpass the intelligence of man itself. If that's true how come I was able to fix the projection system your employees couldn't?"

"You have the powers of a calculator, Mr. Nishinami. What you don't possess is the free will of a man." Dr. Matsumoto pressed enter, blasting Radio in The City, Len by his side.

"My name's Mr. Westwave to you." Radio's final blow was delivered with a voice and face that represented the polar opposite of altruism. He hated Matsumoto.

**I apologize for the confusing transition midway through the chapter. I feel that my reader's imaginations could manifest a better fight scene than I could have.**


	6. Technological Mortality

**Good news everyone! Radio isn't the main character of this chapter. Rejoice!**

_"Each of us is merely a small instrument; all of us, after accomplishing our mission, will disappear." - Mother Teresa, _In the Heart of the World: Thoughts, Stories and Prayers

**_Chapter 6 – Technological Mortality_**

As a punishment for offending Matsumoto with vulgarity, Radio was unwillingly assigned a censorship program. The censor would immediately silence any words and blur out any body parts associated with Radio's cursing, extended middle finger, or nudity. Radio's been hard at work straining the censor since he returned to The City. Desperate actions were performed to make the censor break. He was currently naked on the front lawn of the Crypton Mansion with two middle fingers raised, releasing every bad word he was forbidden from using in his synthesized childhood.

Miku watched the disappointing boy from the balcony of the mansion, jealousy over Rin filling her electric heart.

"Wow," Len leaned onto the balcony railing beside Miku. His visuals had been returned, so he could sympathize with Miku's late afternoon tiredness. "He's really going at it, isn't he?"

"I guess," Miku stood up straight and stretched her arms. The sunset was causing her drowsiness. "Only wish his butt wasn't censored."

Len jerked his face to meet Miku's melancholy eyes. "Radio isn't the guy for you."

"What do you know? You only dated me for two weeks. You barely know what I like."

"I'm trying to learn, you know." Len returned to the edge. "Radio! Get back inside! I'm sick of hearing your ringing every two seconds!"

A small voice replied, "F*** off Len! You can talk only after you can't see your own c*** and balls!" Radio violently, spastically, and rudely jerked around on the lawn; the teenager aimed his curses at the sky.

"Hmm." Miku yawned and stretched. Len yawned in response. "He's kind of cute when he's angry."

"You really don't care about him," Len relapsed into yawning. "Why are you so interested in him?"

"He's more my age than anyone else in this house, yet he's paying no attention to sweet Miku-chan. The fact he's flirting with Merodi and sucking Rin's toes disturbs me."

Len's face recoiled. "He's doing what with Rin?"

"It's a figure of speech, Len. Don't lose yourself." Miku had spoken loud enough for Radio to hear. He began singing an extra vulgar cover of Eminem's 'Lose Yourself'. "He's so cute. I've always wanted an American, okay Len. Is that too much to ask?"

"This might piss you off, but we're programs. We can't feel love."

"I know we can't. It's the thought that counts, Len. That's all we are; thoughts, memories, and voices." Miku swung her hair backwards. Her right pigtail scrubbed against Len's delicate face. To the boy, Miku's hair smelled like blueberries. "Sorry."

"Don't be." When Miku entered the mansion, Len followed. "Can I ask you something, Miku-chan?"

"No, I won't be your girlfriend again." Although Miku was joking, she remained in a somber seriousness.

Len exhaled his disapproval in a sigh. "We're too tired to happily joke around, Miku-chan. Don't make jokes. Can you tell me anything about viruses?"

"Stay away from them." Miku hiccupped. "Excuse me. Here, I'll take you someplace you can learn more."

As they held each other's hand, Len and Miku ran to the mansion's library. The exercise banished the dejected laziness out of Len and Miku's bodies, the same laziness that had constricted the two vocaloids to seriousness. Brown and wooden shelves were placed into an equilateral triangle with open edges at the center of the library. The triangle pointed towards the door. Books of assorted size, color, and thickness were neatly arranged in alphabetical order, depending on the author's last name. The space between the two vector sides of the triangle and the wall holding the door was reserved for computers. Miku booted up one of these computers and searched the internet for 'lists of UCVH virus attacks'.

"We're using a computer…in a computer?" Len leaned over Miku, deliberately approaching her as to acquire another whiff of her hair's pleasant smell. "Are you kidding me?"

"No. You're getting too close." Miku pushed Len away from her face. "These computers allow us to access the human's world wide web. How are you surprised by this, but not surprised when Radio played Xbox with a few of his fans this morning?"

"Don't know…" Len scratched his head. "I always thought we couldn't communicate with the outside."

"What are you talking about Len?" Miku's extravagance of personality resurfaced with the injection of Len's aggravating statement. "You use the internet all the time! News broadcasts, television shows, art…those all come from the real world. Do you think scientists could create something as good as Death Note and Hetalia?""

"You still watch those?"

"Why would I stop?" After answering a question with another question, Miku sneezed onto her sleeve. "Excuse me. Just because we live in a fake world doesn't mean books and shows can't be downloaded into it." Miku brought up a list of Crypton's financial history after seconds of searching. "Says here the most expensive virus attack was the BAR incident."

Len back away. The acronym BAR made him reminiscent…problem was, he had no memories to reminisce. A natural instinct caused Len to think cautiously of his next words. "BAR? What does that stand for?"

"I wouldn't know. My memory was wiped after the incident. All I remember are flashes of really gross things. Oh, and Gumi was a real bitch throughout it all. If she wasn't a good fighter we would have kicked her out of the warehouse immediately." Miku's face became strained with pain. She buried her forehead into her palm. "Warehouse?"

Apprehension caused Len to smile to raise his own spirit. Yet, the boy covertly stabbed himself with his nails in the thigh to release whatever tension was left within him. "Um…isn't it painful for your memory to be removed?"

"No." Miku titled her head with a curious expression. "Didn't Radio tell you? It's more of a suggestion when our memories are deleted. We could always reclaim our memories within 24 hours, unless you aren't a self-aware vocaloid."

"Oh." Len tried to break eye contact with Miku to prevent her expression from causing him any further worries. His eyes betrayed him, however; his vision landed directly on her chest, causing Len to turn away with an obviously embarrassed look. Miku noticed his actions and smacked him for it. "Ow!"

"Don't look at my boobs!"

"I…I was just wondering…"

"No, I won't have sex with you." Miku shuddered with a disgusted face. "I'm not doing that again for a long time. Well, it's probably less painful with you since you're younger and smaller, but still. I'll never get used to having something besides food inside me."

Embarrassment and shock filled Len's cheek. He shouted, "You had sex?"

"So, anyways," Miku returned to face her computer without any emotion. "A lot of vocaloids were killed in the BAR attack. This news article says it's called the BAR incident because all the viruses imported into the main…thingy? Whatever it's called. Mainframe! There! Anyways, all the viruses shared the same file name: BAR."

Apprehension and depressing theories had sped through Len's mind moments ago, but he had forgotten it with how shocking and embarrassing Miku's secret was. Now, however, that apprehension returned. "Vocaloids…died?"

"Well, their personality anyways. Sometimes it's good to die. Many vocaloids are jerks in their first version, but they're recreated with a better attitude. I wish I would have known that during the BAR attacks so I could have set Gumi straight." Miku clenched her fist over the computer's mouse, causing her to click an ad accidentally and open four new windows simultaneously. "I can tell by the look on your face that you want to know about your own deaths. Yes, you have died. You're last death was very painful."

"It…was?"

"You didn't deserve it. I felt…I was…" Miku's face crumbled again. She attempted to remember something she wasn't allowed to, "…depressed after you died. Deaths are probably the only deleted memories our caretakers don't allow us to take back. Radio really pissed off Matsumoto recently when the scientists "accidentally" killed his four clones in public. Guess how difficult it is to delete four memories of four separate deaths in more than four witnesses at the same time before anyone can spread the news?"

Len wasn't capable of receiving all this information, so his body forced him to make a joke about puppies to exhale and relax.

"Very impressive, Len." Miku rolled her eyes and shut off the computer. "I don't know why you're curious about viruses, but talk to Luka if you want to know about the BAR incident. She's the only one who kept her memories of the outbreak. Wait…" A sensation of realization and excitement warmed and contorted Miku's face. "Now I remember!" The turquoise-haired girl's undecipherable expression turned into a disgusted face. "Ugh, I wish I didn't." Miku chucked up yellow, chicken-filled vomit onto Len's shoes. When she was done, Miku was helped onto the chair by the blonde vocaloid with her. "Sorry…Len, I won't tell you what I remember because I'll throw up again, but I will tell you this: whenever a vocaloid is 'updated' to a new version or act, he or she has died. Radio doesn't know it but he's on his fifth life. I'm guessing that's why he didn't tell you about vocaloid death. In his mind, he thinks his 05 tattoo stands for the amount of copies of himself he can have at one time. Don't ruin it for him."

Rin, curious about the noises she heard from the kitchen, peeked through the door. Altruism filled Rin's heart and intention when she saw the unwell Miku. She relieved Len, allowing him to exit the library. Before he abandoned the sick vocaloid, Len asked one final question, "Why is it such a big deal when a vocaloid dies if it happens so often?"

"You think it's cheap," Miku's throat burned with the acidic reinforcements for the food-filled sludge lying on the floor. "Ugh! I hate this! Anyways, Len, do you really think it's cheap to make an…an artificial intelligence? They come up with some really big words for us. We're people, we just live in a computer. When will they see that?" Miku turned to Rin for approval. Rin hesitantly nodded. "It's not cheap to create a person who can feel love, fear, cold, warmth, sex, nausea, vomiting-" Miku began to sound like the disclaimer at the end of a medication commercial, stating many sicknesses she wished she wouldn't have.

"Okay, I get it! You don't like being sick." The blonde turned away and left her sister with Miku. Unfortunately for Rin, Miku was about to cover the entire fictional literature section of the library with remnants of her acidic, digested meal.


	7. Tension

**_Chapter 7 – Tension_**

"Bar can mean many things." Luka slurped her scorching tea. Sunbathing on the roof, Luka wasn't easy to find. Len had to climb some fragile vines attached to the mansion in order to meet the pink-haired woman. Luka was lying on an impossibly heavy lawn chair in an intimidating, tight bikini. The woman looked naked in the corner of Len's eyes when he turned away, as her underwear were the same color as her skin. Len had to stare directly at Luka with dedication just so she wouldn't appear naked. "It could stand for the musical graph, the unit of measurement, or the World War weapon, among other things."

Redness filled Len's cheeks as he watched Luka reach into her bra and pull out a packet of powdered candy. Luka bit the packet open so she wouldn't have to put down the romance novel held in her left hand. The blonde boy sat on an extra chair Luka had mysteriously brought with her. It's as if the woman expected a visitor. "I'm talking about capital B, capital A, capital R. BAR." Len believed BAR was also responsible for Sakura. If he was capable of breaking The Mainframe, he should have been capable of sneaking an entire vocaloid in as well.

Luka didn't break her concentration from the book. She ate her candy by tilting her head up, eyes still reading, and then pouring the candy in her gaping mouth. "Go away, I'm reading."

"Luka, tell me!" Len didn't want to scare Luka with his sudden hateful tone, but the woman still found enough concern to continue the conversation.

"I wasn't self-aware when BAR happened. BAR, for your concern, is the name of the individual responsible for altering the simulation we lived in to recreate a zombie outbreak. If the virus that infected and controlled your body didn't kill you, than the savage vocaloid raiders that rose up would have. Almost every vocaloid got an update after that week." Luka's melancholy mood translated into how cautiously she sipped her tea. "You know what I mean by update, right?"

"Yes. Can you tell me what BAR stands for?"

"Could mean anything. I've liked to think it means Butterflies and Rainbows."

"Not funny. I died in those attacks."

"Not trying to be." Luka clapped her book together. Everything, from the Luka's book and tea to Len's chair, disappeared without warning. Luka instinctively stood before her own chair vanished. "Look, I don't know how Miku was able to access them, but my memories are for _me_. Not for you, not for Miku, and not for Rajio. _Me_. Do you think I don't know what you two scoundrels have been up to?" Clothes appeared on Luka's body. "And you're really bad at speaking to naked women. You made me feel very uncomfortable."

"Get a different colored bra, then." Luka slapped Len, making the boy bite his own tongue. "You know, I feel like I've been hit more than ever since Rajio got here."

"You two need to give up on that girl. She'll only cause trouble."

Hours later, the Crypton Family sat at their dining table. Fresh, warm, and fragrant food was presented for the group. Miku, Radio, and Merodi were very silent while the others slurped their drumsticks, dug out treasures from soup, and threw ice cream at Kaito. The blue-haired vocaloid had enough skill to catch every ounce of frozen yogurt, vanilla ice cream, and chocolate sprinkles lobbed at him by the others. Rin noticed how still and dejected Miku, Merodi, and Radio looked so she tried to lift their spirits with an awkward, yet laughable question.

"Miku, Merodi, Rajio…_y u so_ weird?" Rin winked at Radio. "Did you guys have a three-way-or-something?"

Every fork, spoon, and knife dropped with a harmonic and silencing melody. Luka slammed the table. "Young lady! How dare you be so inappropriate? Where did you learn this?

Rin's smirk dropped. Her cheeks reddened, forming a bar across her nose. "I'm…Kaito showed me a video…he said it would be okay to talk about."

Kaito rose up, pale-skinned, in defense. "I meant it was okay to talk about with _me_!"

The first person to react was Meiko, who sat next to both culprits. She dragged the two by their ears into the kitchen. "Kaito, how dare you show Rin porn? And Rin, how dare you let Kaito corrupt your innocent mind? You're only fourteen!"

Once they were gone, Miku exhaled. "Man…we almost got caught."

"What do you mean 'we'?" Radio stood up recklessly, his chair scraping against the floor with a metallic screech when he pushed it back. "I'm not included in 'we'. The reason I'm pissed is because of-" A loud censor covered Radio's sentence. "What, I can't say-" Another censor. "Alright, are you saying I can't say C-E-" An0other bleep blocked Radio's remaining letters. Throughout his attempts at communication, Radio faced the ceiling as if he were being looked down at.

"Sit down, Rajio. Nobody's listening to you." Luka sipped her tea. "Relax. Your censors will only get worse if you continue to break your speech protocol. Now tell us why you and the two girls sitting next to you are so mute."

"F*** the protocol!" Radio jerked his body towards Len. "Sakura's dead. She's f***ing dead. That's why I'm in a hole. You want to know why these girls are lousy? Ask them yourselves."

Nearly crushing his genitalia against the table, Len stood up without enough force to push his chair back. The pain made him lean over onto empty table for comfort. "What? She can't be gone! I won't let her! That…that can't be true. You're lying!"

"Believe it. She's gone. Penerope's gonna be next."

"Luka, despite Miku and Merodi's concern, spoke inconsiderate words. "I'm glad she's out of your priorities now. I just hope you didn't learn this information by committing any disallowed actions. At least now you two can behave."

"F*** you Luka, and you're big t***! Just because you have double Ds don't mean you get to run the show."

Luka scowled, yet remained calm enough to drink her tea. Radio stormed over and slapped the cup onto the table, cracking it into sharp shards and spilling dyed water onto Luka's face and clothes. A shard of porcelain cut Luka's favorite strand of hair off. "You…you monster!"

Painfully loud punches were exchanged between the two angered vocaloids. Radio didn't hold back, despite Miku and Merodi's pleads. No one tried to pry the two apart. Blood began to drip from Radio's bruised jaw. Luka remained unscathed until Radio grabbed her head and slammed her against the table. Greasy food covered her hair. Soup stained her shirt, and shards of fine china cut her skin. A stack of turkey meats on a platter spilled onto the floor from the force of Radio's second blow. Face down, Radio holding her in place, Luka began to cry.

"That's right!" Radio lifted Luka and, with much more force, smacked her into an untouched section of plates and food. A new set of lacerations appeared on Luka's face. "Cry like the baby you really are. You act mature, Luka, but you're as clueless as a prostitute when it comes to love."

Although meaningless to Luka, that insult gave Radio enough overconfidence to lose attention on his grip. The woman's tears vanished, replaced by a serious expression. Luka escaped her rape-like restraining position by taking advantage of Radio's distraction. She kicked Radio off and grabbed a wine cup. With brutal ferocity, Luka stabbed the glass into Radio's blue eye. When the glass broke, she forcefully shoved the cup into Radio's eye socket until the handle of the cup stuck out freely. The tips of the glass shards around Radio's eye dripped the blood lead onto them by gravity.

Screaming, Radio removed the handle, causing his eye to burst open and ooze. It mixed with the blood to make a watery, dark pink goo. Astonishment ran through everyone's nerves. Luka, who grew reflective and apprehensive, sat beside Radio. She hugged the boy with uptight, conflicting feelings. "I'm so sorry…I shouldn't have done this. You can be an asshole sometimes, and I can be a bitch. We took this fight too far."

Len, remarkably unfazed by the fight, tapped Radio's shoulder. "Is there any way we can get Sakura back?"

"My right eye just popped and you're wondering if we can get your girl back!" Radio shouted.

"How dare you?" Luka's face filled with disgust. In her anger, Luka unconsciously tightened her grip around Radio. The teenager tried his best to swallow the blood Luka was gently scooping into his mouth.

Four ounces of blood was lost faster than Luka could help. Radio exhaled. "Luka, let me go. I'm gonna die. Don't worry, I'll be right back. Hey, if this is anything like Doctor Who I'll come back as a better looking, slightly less amusing actor." The CHAMBERloid tried a laugh. "Of all the ways to die it's by the hands of a beautiful young woman. My mom always told me not to pick fights I couldn't win."

"We don't have Moms." Len's comment got him a punch from Miku.

"Thanks Len, you d***."

Biting her nails, Luka reassured Radio. "You're not going to die."

"Don't worry." Radio spoke in a raspy and confined voice. "Maybe I'll come back as a sweeter boy. I mean, I'm an ass**** now, right?" The CHAMBERloid turned to Miku. "Hopefully the _sixth_ life's the charm, huh?" With the last of his notorious coughs, Radio spoke his final words to Len. "Tell Rin she's a nice girl, but she's not ready for the things I want to do to her."

"Don't…don't go."

"I have to. Luka, get a breast reduction. You're making everyone else feel bad. You're also tempting Len to f*** you." Radio turned to Miku. "You were pretty alright, I guess. You were just kind of a b**** when it came to understanding I don't like blue-haired girls." The teenager rolled his head to face Merodi. "I swear I didn't rape you. You just had a f***ed up dream, aight? Just in case, I'm not responsible for whatever comes out of you in nine months." Now it was Len's turn. "I swear, if you don't f*** Luka one of these days I will come back and strangle you. Promise me that you-"

The boy burst vigorously, sending volleys of blood and organs everywhere. A red crater of blood covered the floor and wall where Radio sat. Although Luka absorbed most of the blast, the girls caught some disgusting body parts themselves. The room became silent. Luka, still covered in gore, faced the ground in disappointment. She's strived to remain peaceful and pacifistic. She wanted to be the one who settles fights, not the one who's included in them.

It would take months for Radio's company to recreate him. With this being his fifth death, it would be unlikely the company would have enough money to cover the damages. The fees of owning space in The Mainframe alone had nearly made West Chamber bankrupt. The only way to recreate Radio would be to withdraw their space from The Mainframe. No matter what, the group would never see their foul-mouthed, perverted friend ever again.

A cough with Radio's voice frightened the group. "I didn't know I would come back. Probably wouldn't have said most of the things that I…I should shut up now, shouldn't I?"

Luka blinked. She rose to shove Radio's brand new avatar onto the floor. "Don't ever scare me like that!"

Miku and Merodi quickly embraced Radio, their warm bodies and pleasant smells bringing pride and comfort to the CHAMBERloid's new heart. Miku, who stopped crying before everyone else, kissed Radio on the lips and said: "How did you get back so quickly?"

After Miku finished Merodi took her turn with Radio's lips. The two girls, with young lust, exchanged Radio's mouth between sobs. They were sloppy with their methods of affection, as they were energetic and relieved Radio was back so quickly. Tears and saliva from the three stained the floor's carpet to a dark grey. Once the three were done, to everyone's surprise, Luka gently guided the two girls aside and snagged Radio by his hair with her fingers. She pulled the teenager in for a long, mature kiss. Radio didn't have the confidence or the consciousness to close his eyes and enjoy all the affection. Luka's kiss was more sexual than friendly, so Radio's body responded by raising a certain limb he keeps hidden in his pants.

The boy found the nerve to push Luka away before she made him explode in a different way. "Guys, I'm happy you missed me, but I never left. I think this is the reason Crypton has allowed a troublemaker like me to stay in here; I have to power to regenerate instantly without needing a single dime from a company."


	8. An American Nightmare

**I thank all those who have stayed with me this far. The story will be ending soon. I would like to thank Powdered Candy, kittakat90, and CirciFox81314 for being awesome friends throughout my time on . Oh, and Powdered Candy, I hope my Easter eggs aren't getting annoying for you. :)**

_"If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today."_ _–E. JOSEPH COSSMAN_

**_Chapter 8 – An American Nightmare_**

After Radio's death and announcement of Penerope's ordeal, Merodi took Meiko and Kaito to search for her sister. Radio scrambled his four clones onto The Mainframe to assist Merodi in her search. Apparently, the girl wasn't very happy with Radio's news. She argued with the others for hours, influenced the adults to help her, and convinced the group to call her Melody and her sister Penelope. Radio was relieved more than annoyed with Melody's demands, as the two sisters' names were very hard on his tongue.

According to Kaito, Penelope was Melody's original. She was imprisoned because she destroyed equipment in The Lab while fighting off Sakura, the same virus Len had fallen in love with. Now, alone in his dark bedroom, Len mourned over his lost love.

/ / / [ [ [ * ] ] ] \ \ \

Radio experienced horrific nightmares that same night. He dreamt of his cursed immortality. Even after aggravating a gang, the police, the army and participating in a four-way gunfight with these groups Radio stood, still alive. In his nightmare, everyone hated each other, even cops and the military. Radio would constantly be shot down by enemies. He would return instantly, but only to be gun downed yet again. Every death was more painful than the last. Radio lost his endurance and resilience after a few hours. At one point, he grew too tired to fight off his enemies in the endless gunfight he had imagined in his Brooklyn neighborhood. The teenager rose from his cover behind a neighbor's car and dropped his carbine rifle on the hard asphalt road.

He accepted every bullet shot at him by his opponents until he couldn't bleed anymore. The teenager dropped to the floor, ignored for a short period by everyone else.

The CHAMBERloid acquired a view of the scene. A blood tint stained Radio's perception of the dark winter day. All the objects in the world were red and dim. Gentle black snow sprinkled the streets and houses in the neighborhood, melting into black water afterwards and killing all grass and flowers it touched. Gang members wearing bandanas over their mouths, SWAT members wielding high-end assault rifles, military grunts, and armed citizens filled the road and homes around Radio. Each person hid behind their own piece of cover or marched in tight groups, making it difficult for Radio to count his enemies. Everyone fought against each other, but Radio was everyone's common enemy. A car exploded near Radio, dismembering the teenager and forcing him into his reality.

Nightmares; a side effect of memories and feelings.

Rin noticed the CHAMBERloid frightfully waking up and tightened her embrace around the boy's torso. She, along with Miku, shared a bed with Radio with the intention of comforting him. They warmed the teenager's new body with their own. Although they were comforting, Rin and Miku were also invaders of Radio's privacy, not allowing the boy to think peacefully.

"Hey baby." Rin stretched her legs. "I see you're awake."

"And I see you're still wide-eyed and bushy tailed." Radio grabbed Rin's hands and returned them to her waist.

Rin was hurt. Why didn't Radio want her embrace? Was she being clingy or annoying? "Radio-kun."

"Don't...just call me Rad. Radio's too formal for you, babe."

"Alright, Rad-kun." Rin giggled. "That sounds too much like raccoon. I'm totally calling you that from now on."

"Sounds fun." Radio pulled Rin close for an arousing kiss on the lips.

"I…" Rin returned the boy's hug. "I want to know how you feel."

"Like a jerk. I died, made you mourn for me, and then returned without a regard for your feelings."

"I'm happy you're still here. Even if you did it on purpose, I wouldn't mind!"

Radio huffed. "It was on purpose, Rin. I started that fight with Luka and got myself killed. Immortality isn't a blessing; my personality will never change. I will always be the same asshole I am now."

"There's nothing you can do. We are all immortal. You're just a bit more immortal than me and the others." Rin rested her head on Radio's chest. "I want you to stay the way you are."

"What happens when you die? What if you don't like me anymore?"

Rin scowled. "You are so negative! I…if you don't want me…"

"Stop overreacting. There _will_ be a time when you won't like me anymore."

Rin pushed her boyfriend away, enraged. "I can't believe we've been together for just hours and you're already talking about our break-up. You don't think I've known about this stuff? I've lived longer than you. That's funny, since you're supposed to be older than me. Learn how to keep your mouth shut and kiss me at the right times, you negative…inconsiderate…piece of crap!"

"Learn how to not ask for my feelings."

"Argh!" Rin rose, frustrated. "You're welcome for the therapy, Mr. Psychopath. No wonder everyone hated me after I become your GF." Without waiting for Radio's response, Rin stormed into the bathroom, waking Miku in the process.

"What?" Miku yawned. "Why is Rin-chan mad?"

"Don't worry about it. I need to talk to Len."

"Len's not gonna help you calm his sister down."

"That ain't what we'll be talking about. But…I'll wait for Rin to calm down. Wouldn't want her to be angry with me in the morning."

"Go in the bathroom. She's waiting for you."

"What if she's legit using the bathroom?"

"We're computer programs; Radio-chan. We don't need to use the bathroom. When's the last time _you_ took a dump?"

Radio sighed before following Miku's advice.

/ / / [ [ [ * ] ] ] \ \\

After escaping the tight grasps of the cute, sleeping girls, Radio walked around the bright and empty mansion. He thought about life, death, and the girls he had just cuddled. They were terrified when Radio died. Meiko, Luka, and Kaito were very suspicious of Radio's spontaneous regeneration. They found it hard to believe; they didn't think Radio was still himself. They had good reasons, two.

Immortality. The word stabbed Radio's nerves with a scorching metal prod.

"I can't die." Radio whispered to himself. "I can't…I will never…die." The old information had a new impact on Radio. The teenager would never know what it's like to have a better personality. He would never become a better person, but remain the rude jerk he was now. Anxiety fueled Radio's paces around the mansion. After he couldn't relax anymore, Radio jogged to Len's bedroom and woke the crying boy up. "I-I don't know what I feel, but it makes me warm. Everyone…they're being so nice, even after I beat up Luka. It's strange; I'm…happily sad. This sensation in my head won't go away. It's a feeling that reminds me how much love Miku and Rin are pumping into me. I feel l-like I'm a part of something...something…something warm. A family, maybe. But I feel like I don't deserve to be in this family." Radio spoke in a low and somber, yet honored voice.

Len blocked the light from the hallway's lamps with his pillow. "Don't wake me up to listen to your boring monologues."

"L-Len…you're my best friend."

"I hate you. Go away." Len's voice was muffled by the pillow he pressed against his face.

"Len…you think I like getting affection from your sweetheart Miku? You know I like Rin."

Len rose from his bed. "I don't care if she likes you more than me! And you do _not_ like my sister! It's just a crush you will get over in a few days. I wish you would have never came here. At least then…" Len dropped his head.

Radio realized the source of Len's aggression. "Do you think Sakura would be alive if I wasn't here?"

"Matsumoto…he probably finished her off because the two of us snuck out to see her."

"F*** Matsumoto. The guy's only doing this job for the paycheck. He can care less about us. He didn't do s*** either; Sakura was already on her way down." Radio stood up from the bed. "So I heard what you and Miku were talking about in the library."

Len scowled. "So? We weren't talking about you."

Radio playfully grabbed Len from behind in an intimate grasp. He whispered into the blonde boy's ear. "Aww, is cute little Wen-chwan jwealous of bwig wold Wadio?" Len pushed his friend away. Radio returned to his normal, deep voice. "You really think I like Miku, don't you? No, I don't. Blue hair isn't my thing. It's your sister I'm into. Shorthaired blonde girls with small chests turn me on. Accepting Miku's affection makes me feel like I'm cheating on my babe, Rin."

"Go die in a hole."

"I will, but only after you listen to my plan to get Sakura back."

The doubtful Len glared at Radio with an insulted, red face. "Go fuck yourself!"

"Listen! I did some research on this BAR thing. I found out The Mainframe collects our memories and puts them into one tangible, isolated simulation for video recording. It's what they used to record the events of the BAR incident. Of course these recordings aren't released publicly, but more mysteries can be solved by watching a vocaloid's perception of a piece of code than the actual code can. Well, at least that's what one employee said."

"Get out!"

Radio grabbed Len by his shirt and lifted him up, hurting the skin and muscle the tightened clothe pulled onto. "Sakura is deleted, but not overridden. She's still recoverable, but we need to move fast. Five of her limbs have been dispersed in this memory simulation I talked about. The parts…?" Radio's eyes fluttered as they did on the RAM card. "Her torso and right arm are intact and in one place. That piece and her left arm, head, left leg and hip, and her right leg all need to be recovered."

Len threw his arms up in disapproval. "Sure, Radio, let's just _remember_ that we saw Sakura's body parts and then we'll all be fine and swell. Good, no…_great_ idea. Why don't we also get Luka to strip down naked and put on a little show for us while we're at it, huh? Both, according to your logic, are very likely."

Radio dropped the teenager. "You're older than Luka. Your body may appear younger, but she would be flattered if you had sex with her."

"You are a pervert, a liar, and an asshole!"

"I'm the same dishonest, perverted asshole who's trying to get your baby back."

/ / / [ [ [ * ] ] ] \ \\

Several hours passed. Len, Miku, Rin, Luka, and Radio met in the backyard. The CHAMBERloid took his time to explain his obscure plan. "You're all probably wondering how we're getting items from our memories, right? Have you guys ever had a dream where you got something meaningful, but when you woke up it wasn't there? That's gonna happen if we don't abide by this plan. Wanna know why that meaningful item isn't there when you wake up? Because you _expect_ it to be there. It's like jacking off-"

"Radio!" Luka shouted. "Keep it clean."

"Uh…I mean, it's like high-fiving yourself. There's no connection. But if someone else lives your memory, anything taken from that memory will be given to you. Of course, humans can't do this, but we're in a computer. Reliving each other's memories is as easy as stepping into another simulation. Is everyone ready?"

"No." Miku and Rin announced in unison. The two girls were in their sleeping bikinis, wanting to show as much skin to Radio, intending to please him. The girls even asked Radio to touch them inappropriately, but he kindly refused despite his raging hormones. Despite his mood, Miku still flashed Radio against his will during breakfast. Radio jokingly asked Miku to "put those away" and continued eating his breakfast. Of course, this didn't happen in front of Luka or the other adults. Now, in the group, the two girls cuddled with Radio in his lawn chair. They got comfortable, then announced they were ready.

"Can I be cuddled?" Len failed at being cute.

After the girls denied Len, Radio proposed an offer Miku wouldn't refuse. "I'll let you do whatever you want to me if you cuddle with Len, as long as it doesn't ruin the faithful relationship I'm trying to have with Rin." Miku obliged. Len didn't think he could handle nearly 100 pounds of weight on his lap before Radio finished his explanation. "Guys, don't worry about a thing. We're being supervised by an employee topside. She's written a program that's allowed us to enter our memories."

Luka, who paid careful attention to Radio's explanation, asked valid questions. "How do we know Sakura's body parts are in our memories? And, if it's not too much to ask, what's the name of the conglomeration of memories we are about to enter?"

"You just answered your own question. Sort of, anyways. This conglomeration of memories, as you put it, is called something like The Brain or The Cortex…something to do with storing memories. We'll just call it Cerebro because of how much I love X-Men, although they are pretty much two different things and-"

"Radio, concentrate."

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Anyways, Sakura's data was deleted and scattered across Cerebro. We can recover them by collecting Sakura's body parts before they are written over by newer data and lost forever. Look, I don't want to bring you three girls into this, but you're the only ones I feel comfortable switching bodies with."

Rin gave Radio a quizzical look. "We're switching bodies?"

"Remember what I said about jacking off, and then Luka got mad at me so I changed it to a self-high-five archetype? The speech I spoke about the connection, remember that? We need to be in each other's bodies to get Sakura. We need someone else to live our memories in order for the _connection_ to be there, or else it will just all be a dream."

"Good point. So is this going to be like that American movie Inception?"

Radio chuckled. "No, it's more like Quantum Leap. If you haven't watched that, go dig a hole and sit in it. Anyways, I'm sick of talking."

"Wait!" Miku leaned off Len. "Do we have dibs or something on body parts we have to get?"

"Yes, we each have an assigned body part, but we can't know what it is. It will ruin the surprise and the connection. This needs to be as stimulating and physical as we can possibly make it." Radio snapped his fingers, signaling the covert employee to run the unauthorized program. While beams of colorful light arched between the heads of the five vocaloids, connecting them, Radio issued one last announcement. "In these memories all morals should be set aside. These are memories, not real life. Your actions can't affect the current state of The Mainframe. Murder, steal, rape if you want to…do anything you can to get the Sakura back."


End file.
